Women Under Assault, Hobbs Vetoes SB1628, The Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights

In an atmosphere reminiscent of the days when women were considered second-class citizens, there has been an assault on their uniqueness by liberals, under the guise of equality.

This new assault on women has been manifesting itself in a variety of ways. These include men’s participation in women sports, unisex toilets, men who think of themselves as women invading their privacy, and the use of gender instead of sex as a means of obfuscating the issue, among others.

The problem has become severe enough for some organizations to embrace the creation of and support for a Woman’s Bill of Rights, as set forth by the organization  Independent Womens Voice.

WOMEN’S BILL OF RIGHTS

Whereas, males and females possess unique and immutable biological differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as they age and experience puberty;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes mean that only females are able to get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed children;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes mean that males are, on average, bigger, stronger, and faster than females;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes leave females more physically vulnerable than males to specific forms of violence, including sexual violence;

Whereas, females have historically suffered from discrimination in education, athletics, and employment;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes are enduring and may, in some circumstances, warrant the creation of separate social, educational, athletic, or other spaces in order to ensure safety and/or to allow members of each sex to succeed and thrive;

Whereas, inconsistencies in court rulings and policy initiatives with respect to the definitions of ‘sex,’ ‘male,’ ‘female,’ ‘man,’ and ‘woman’ have led to endangerment of single-sex spaces and resources, thereby necessitating clarification of certain terms,

We affirm that:

1. For purposes of state/federal law, a person’s ‘sex’ is defined as his or her biological sex (either male or female) at birth;

2. For purposes of state/federal law, a ‘female’ is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova; a ‘male’ is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female;

3. For purposes of state/federal law, ‘woman’ and ‘girl’ refer to human females, and the terms ‘man’ and ‘boy’ refer to human males;

4. For purposes of state/federal law, the word ‘mother’ is defined as a parent of the female sex and ‘father’ is defined as a parent of the male sex;

5. When it comes to sex, ‘equal’ does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical’;

6. When it comes to sex, separate is not inherently unequal;

7. There are legitimate reasons to distinguish between the sexes with respect to athletics, prisons or other detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, restrooms, and other areas where biology, safety, and/or privacy are implicated;

8. Policies and laws that distinguish between the sexes are subject to intermediate constitutional scrutiny, which forbids unfair discrimination against similarly-situated males and females but allows the law to distinguish between the sexes where such distinctions are substantially related to important governmental objectives;

9. Any public school or school district and any federal/state/local agency, department, or office that collects vital statistics for the purpose of complying with anti-discrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering accurate public health, crime, economic, or other data shall identify each individual who is part of the collected data set as either male or female at birth.

Republicans in general, and AZ Republican legislators in particular, echo the sentiments expressed in the Women’s Bill of Rights. As a result, they passed Senate Bill SB1628 known as the “Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights”.

There are three noteworthy facts about this bill.

First, it passed with 100% Republican support and zero support from Democrats. This is further proof that it is Republicans who care about women’s rights, not Democrats.

Second, this bill contains an intent clause, which leaves no doubt as to what the legislative intention was in passing this bill. It reads:

“The purpose of this act is to bring clarity, certainty and uniformity to the laws of this state regarding sexual discrimination, equality of the sexes and benefits or services that are specifically provided to males and men and females and women.”

Third, Senate Bill SB1628 was vetoed by Hobbs. In her Veto Letter she claims that this bill “attacks Arizonans.” Anyone who reads this bill objectively will agree that there is not one single word of attack in it.